


The Runaway

by Branded_Lunacy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assault, Cannibalism, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Delphini Has Naturally White Hair, Delphini Has a Crush on Harry for a Little While, F/M, Gaslighting, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Running Away, Seer Delphini
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-08 21:58:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18903460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Branded_Lunacy/pseuds/Branded_Lunacy
Summary: In an alternate reality Delphini grows to hate being the Dark Lord's sheltered daughter more and more. Eventually Fate hands her a way out.





	The Runaway

_ Whispers crawling on the wind pull Delphini forward. The chill of the air clings to her fingertips and leaves her shivering when she steps closer to the Veil. The arch stands at twice her height, ancient writing carved into every inch of the old stone. The sight comforts her and makes her feel welcome here. Ghostly bodies shift and gasp from inside. Fingers reach out to her as far as they can, begging. _

 

_“Please.” “It’s safe.” “Do it.” “No time.” “He’s coming.” “Trust yourself.” “Now.” “We’ll catch you.”_

 

_ The cloak around her shoulders twinkles like stardust in the light of the Veil. The stone on her finger lightly repeats back the pleas coming from the spirits. The wand in her fist burns like fiendfyre in contrast to the cool atmosphere of the Death Chamber. She glances at the imperiused man behind her. He’s watching, as he should be. She turns back to the Veil and walks… and walks… and walks…  _

 

* * *

 

Delphini’s vision of the Veil haunts her for months. Every morning she wakes to the sound of a train whistle only she can hear. She even clips into the vision during the day, but this is a problem only for her. Everyone in her family already knows her to be a seer. They expect her to have visions and look at her, impressed, if she’s caught having one. For her, this causes insomnia, random bouts of nausea, depression, and suicidal thoughts. She’s never considered her abilities a blessing, despite how much her Father praises her for them. 

 

Regardless of how she feels, today is her thirteenth birthday. Regardless of what she wants, today she becomes a horcrux. Her Father hasn’t officially told her yet, but she’s already seen it happen. She knows what his present will be. She knows it will hurt more if she attempts to refuse. She knows the only way to avoid this particular moment in Fate is to kill herself, but she’s already decided to stick it out a while longer.

 

Delphini joins her family for breakfast. Today, she is at the head. This has never happened for any of her other birthdays. No one but her Father and she know why so much honor is being bestowed upon her. This is her Father’s third day of fasting. She and he know why. No one else does. He watches Delphini eat her favorite food with undivided attention. She forces herself to chew at a normal pace despite how badly she wants to vomit.

 

For the rest of the day, she’s required at her Father’s side. No one else is allowed to be near them, except for during lunch and dinner. They spend their time reading together and playing chess. He captures all of her pieces except for the King, but she manages to land them in a draw by escaping check ten times. He smiles and compliments her. She thanks him.

 

Eventually, the day comes to it’s inevitable end. The sky is dark and it should be her bedtime, but her Father leads her into his study. There he begins to explain his present. She looks at him but doesn’t listen, having heard it all before. He waxes poetic about them being forever connected as family. The plan is for her to become one of his horcruxes now at age thirteen and then for him to become one of hers once she’s seventeen.

 

The candles are lit, blood spilt, magic circle made, and Harry’s preserved corpse smoothie is drunk by her Father. A horrible kind of control over death is required to make a horcrux. Either cannibalism or necrophilia would work. She knows he’s done this for each one he’s made. She’s laying in the bloody magic circle and he’s warning her this will hurt them both. She nods and her vision twists, focusing on the ruby red eyes above her as the pain sets in. They scream together for a long time.

 

* * *

 

When she wakes it’s in her Father’s bed, train whistle in her ears louder than ever. He’s lying beside her, reading. She fully opens her eyes and his attention snaps to her immediately. He tosses the book aside and leans into her space. 

 

“Delphini, can you speak?”

 

“Y-yes.”

 

He kisses her forehead and she temporarily goes cross eyed from the shock. Her Father’s always hated touching other people like that. He’s never hugged or kissed Delphini or Bellatrix and she knows they used magical insemination to make her. He has always avoided physical affection.

 

“Father?”

 

“Rest, Delphini. I have things to attend to now that I know you’re alright. If anything begins to feel wrong, say my name.” There’s a taboo on his name. The only person left who’s willing to say it is Delphini when given permission.

 

“Yes, Father.”

 

Then he’s gone, silently apparated away between one blink and the next, like a specter. She hopes he’s gone for the rest of the day. 

 

_ Odd. Why? _

 

Delphini’s whole body jolts and she focuses on her breathing. Her occlumency is excellent. She can recognize when a voice is coming from a flesh-and-blood person or inside her own mind. She can especially recognize her own Father’s voice, but there’s no reason he should have access to her mind right now. She saw how it was for Harry and it wasn’t like this. 

 

_ That’s likely because I intended to make a horcrux this time. The piece Harry Potter possessed was too small to interact with him. _

 

Delphini let out the next breath with ease. This wasn’t really her Father. This was the horcrux attached to her soul. 

 

_ I  _ am  _ your Father, Delphini. This is simply how it works. This piece of me will be forever with you.  _

 

Delphini saw Harry fight the diary horcrux once. She knows the scattered pieces of her Father’s soul can’t communicate with him. Her mind is still safe from her Father, even though it carries another conscience now.

 

_ What do you mean by safe? You shouldn’t fear your Father! I am- _

 

The walls rise in Delphini’s mind as she blocks the horcrux’s input from her ears. He can still witness everything she does, feel her emotions, and know her thoughts, but at least she won’t have to listen to his gaslighting. She wraps up in the blankets, her Father’s smell enveloping her, and quickly falls asleep.

 

* * *

 

_ Delphini enters the forbidden forest. It calls to her from further in. She can hear the voices of the dead echoing off the trees. They must be coming from the stone. She follows the call. It leads her deep. She recognizes this path as the one Harry took just before meeting her Father for his death. She stops as the whispers suddenly silence themselves.  _

 

_ She places her hands on the ground directly in front of her, fingertips touching silk. She pulls the cloak around her and a warmth surrounds her soul. The stone lay on the ground. She picks it up in her tiny hand and another piece of Fate clicks into place. She flips the stone over, again, and again… _

 

* * *

 

Delphini is weak for days. Her Father checks on her often, bestowing upon her kisses and hugs before departing again. At night, they co-sleep. He insists on holding her. It helps with her insomnia. She easily falls back asleep after waking from a vision now. She’s grateful for the most solid sleep schedule she’s ever had, but irritated it’s her Father’s presence that calms her so quickly. She tries to dismiss this as an involuntary feeling shared between a parent and child, but the feeling haunts her and makes her crave violence. She’s hated feeling anything remotely positive for her Father ever since she realized parents aren’t supposed to hurt their kids.

 

Throughout all of this, she’s kept the horcrux in her mind quiet. They haven’t spoken to each other since the first time. She doesn’t intend to speak to him any time soon either. Whenever her Father speaks of their new connection and she’s reminded of the piece of him stuck in her, she has visions of all the ways she could successfully kill herself in front of him. The first time that happened, she could faintly feel a burning far in the back of her mind. She ignored the horcrux until it quit shouting. It was faintly satisfying for her to know she could ignore him longer than he could yell.

 

Once she’s physically recovered, her Father informs her of a trip they’ll be making to Hogwarts soon. A student committed suicide, so he’s going to the wake to give a speech that will hopefully boost morale. He tells her she’ll be coming with him to a lot of things from now on. He tells her he believes she’s ready and that he trusts her more than anyone else. She tries not to drift into another suicidal vision. Her poker face is truly impeccable.

  
  


They apparate into Hogsmeade silently. People flinch when their eyes land on her Father, but linger to watch when they spot her next to him. Delphini knows it’s public knowledge the Dark Lord has a daughter, but this is the first time she’s ever been in public, the first time anyone not related to her has ever even seen her. She knows the only reason she survived growing up so ridiculously sheltered is because of her sight. 

 

Her Father leads her up the path toward Hogwarts, their hands intertwined. He mentions wanting to walk for a bit. She appreciates the moment. She’s never been let off the manor grounds before and is only ever allowed outside of the building if she’s being accompanied, which her family usually doesn’t have the time for. Delphini is watching the way her little pale hand fits into her Father’s thin grey one when she drifts into a vision.

 

* * *

 

_ Delphini’s shoulder is burning bad as her Father pulls her along by the arm, leaving bruises. She runs on her tiptoes to keep up with his pace. They reach her room and he throws her inside. She hits the floor, but stands quickly. He’s pacing, angry. His hands look like claws.  _

 

_ “What were you doing? Everyone was expecting you to be there! I had to make up an excuse for you!” He stops and looks at Delphini. He expects an answer. _

 

_ “I was nervous. I hid in the forest until it was over.” _

 

_ His eyes slit and his nostrils flare in anger. “The forest? I give you a piece of myself to keep safe and the first thing you do when I finally let you out of the manor is to embarrass me and run headfirst into the most dangerous area you could find?” _

 

_ “I’m sorry, Father.”  _

 

_ “If I can’t trust you to keep us safe then you won’t be leaving again until you have a horcrux of your own.” _

 

_ Delphini feels it in her bones when he slams the door shut behind him. She’s been officially confined to the manor for four more years... _

 

* * *

 

She comes back to herself, shaking like a leaf in her Father’s arms. Why the hell would she ever run off to the forest in-?

 

“Delphini, you’re back. Just in time. We’ve almost reached the castle.” He leans down, placing her back on her feet and grabs her hand in his again. “ We’ll stop by the restroom first, so you can clean up your face.”

 

Delphini touches her cheek, finding sweat and tears coating her skin.

 

“What did you see? Was it interesting?”

 

“Not really... just people I don’t know hurting each other.” Delphini’s gotten very good at lying about her visions over the years. In particular, she’s gotten good at killing her Father’s curiosity if she doesn’t want him snooping.

 

“Hmm.”

 

They enter the castle and make their way to the first floor bathroom, but there lies an “under construction” sign. 

 

“Ah, I’ve had them begin remodeling the bathrooms recently. Come along, Delphini. We’ll go to the second floor.”

 

“Are we going to be late because of me?” Phrasing sentences is important when speaking to her Father.

 

“No one would dare mind.” He’s utterly unconcerned anyway.

 

Delphini is still concerned though. She needs time alone to think about her vision. “I’ve seen where the second floor bathroom is. I could meet you in the Great Hall after I’m looking better?”

 

He stops walking to stare at Delphini. “Why do you want to go alone?”

 

“To prove I can?”

 

Her Father tilts his head and narrows his eyes in that snake-ish way he sometimes does. “Alright. There will be a seat open next to me at the head table. Come sit there when you arrive.”

 

“Thank you, Father.”

 

They part and Delphini climbs the stairs to the second floor. It doesn’t take her long to clean up her face in the bathroom. Soon she’s pacing and mumbling to herself in true crazy-person fashion.

 

“So there’s an alternate path I can take where I don’t go to the speech and instead I go to the forbidden forest to do something important. There’s no way I was being honest when I said it was because I was nervous because crowds and strangers don’t make me nervous. So what’s in the forest that’s so important I’d ruin Father and I’s first outing together and risk punishment?” 

 

Delphini takes a breath as the answer hits her. “Oh, it must be the cloak and stone. They’re still in the forest and I know where they are, so I went to get them, but why didn’t I tell Father that? He’s talked about wanting to be the Master of Death before and how angry he was that Harry Potter hid the other hallows.” Her pacing slows to a stop as she ponders whispering spirits and train whistles.. “If I take the hallows for myself and become the Master of Death, I can travel through the Veil and never have to see Father again… never have to be gaslighted again… never have to be locked up again… never have to rip up my soul...”

 

Her pacing starts up again, nails raking her scalp. “But how would I get the elder wand from Father? He always has it on him and the only time in isn’t in his hand is when he’s sleeping…” The pacing ends yet again and Delphini’s main goal in life shifts from survival to escape, from defense to offense. “We lets me sleep with him now. I can just take it from him…”

 

A blinding pain shoots through her skull and she grips the sink to steady herself. The horcrux is roaring harder and louder than he ever has. She rips her own walls down to tell him to-

 

_ Delphini, don’t you dare! You don’t know we’ll survive the Veil! I saw that vision in your head! It only showed you entering the Veil, not exiting! _

 

Delphini has never heard her Father sound that frantic or scared before, but it doesn’t matter. She believes this will work. She’s leaving and neither her Father nor his horcrux can stop her. She spots the serpent faucet.

 

_ “Open.” _

 

_ You stupid child! Stop! _

 

It’s actually pretty refreshing to hear his voice in such a panicked state. Delphini laughs for the first time in years as she slides down the pipe meant for a basilisk. She loses her breath as the slide picks up speed and dissolves into a coughing fit when she finally shoots out the end and hits the ground rolling. Once her breath is back, she’s laughing and crying just a bit. 

 

The horcrux is still insulting her intelligence and threatening to find a way to ground her, so she pulls the walls back up. She revels in the silence that follows. It washes through her ears and over her skin. For the first time in her life, she finally feels like a person. Up until now, she’s never disobeyed her Father, not on purpose. Now she might be killing him in a day or two. At the very least, she’ll have to hurt him as badly as she can, so the ownership of the elder wand switches to her. She knows this won’t work unless the wand is truly hers.

 

Delphini decides to plan that part later, once she’s been confined to her room. For now, she picks herself up and begins her search for the other exit, since it leads to the forbidden forest. She doesn’t bother spelling herself clean until she finally emerges into the sunlight, probably twenty minutes later. 

 

Finally muck-free, Delphini enters the forbidden forest. It calls to her from further in. She can hear the voices of the dead echoing off the trees. They must be coming from the stone. She follows the call. It leads her deep. The sunlight is already less noticeable. Things are darker here. She recognizes this path as the one Harry took just before meeting her Father for his death. 

 

She stops as the whispers suddenly silence themselves. She places her hands on the ground directly in front of her. Her fingertips touch silk. She picks the cloak up, dirt falling away from it as if it had never touched the ground to begin with. She wraps the silk around her and her soul is suffused with a warmth she’s never known before. A sigh escapes her lips.

 

She remembers the stone had lay under the cloak on the ground. She finds it in the leaves, picks it up in her tiny hands, and another piece of Fate clicks into place. She flips the stone over, again, and again… She knows the story, knows how to use it, but she’s never lost anyone special to her. It won’t be doing anything for now.

 

“You made it!”

 

Delphini chokes on her spit and falls on her behind. Her stormy blue eyes clash with emerald green. His hair is ratty and his glasses are crooked. “Harry Potter?”

 

“Yeah, nice to meet you.” Harry scratches at the back of his head, seemingly nervous.

 

Delphini feels dazed. “I watched my Father drink your corpse…”

 

The boy cringes and looks away. “You weren’t the only one watching…”

 

Despite how gross the memory is, Delphini finds herself giggling at the thought. Harry smiles at her laughter. He’s translucent and not really here, but he takes the time to skip over and plop down onto the ground next to her. The leaves don’t register the movement.

 

“So, this plan. I can guess the guy in your head doesn’t approve, but I wanted to let you know that you’ve got my support.”

 

“A dead man’s stamp of approval. Oh, how I’ve wanted for this.” Delphini offers him a smile anyway.

 

“I bet it’s better than your Dad’s.”

 

She grimaces and looks away for a moment. “Do you know where I’ll end up once I cross through the Veil?”

 

“I’ll do you one better! I’ll be there to guide you.” Harry beams at her and she quirks an eyebrow at him. “What? I’m dead. I can do it.”

 

“Oh no, I believe you. I just don’t understand why you’d want to.”

 

“Oh. Well, I guess I just have this ‘saving people thing’, you know?”

 

Delphini watches his easy smile for a moment. Just by his expression, a normal person would never guess he’d been abused as a child. “Yeah. I know.”

 

They share a smile. “See you soon, Delphini.” Then the boy who lived is gone.

 

* * *

Delphini’s shoulder is burning bad as her Father pulls her along by the arm, leaving bruises. She runs on her tiptoes to keep up with his pace. They reach her room and he throws her inside. She hits the floor, but stands quickly. He’s pacing, angry. His hands look like claws. 

 

“What were you doing? Everyone was expecting you to be there! I had to make up an excuse for you!” He stops and looks at Delphini. He expects an answer.

 

She knows what to say. “I was nervous. I hid in the forest until it was over.”

 

His eyes slit and his nostrils flare in anger. “The forest? I give you a piece of myself to keep safe and the first thing you do when I finally let you out of the house is to embarrass me and run headfirst into the most dangerous place you can find?”

 

“I’m sorry, Father.” She fakes the remorse well.

 

“If I can’t trust you to keep us safe then you won’t be leaving again until you have a horcrux of your own.”

 

Delphini feels it in her bones when he slams the door shut behind him. She’s been officially confined to the manor for four more years, but that won’t stop her. She’ll never have to fear her Father again soon enough. The horcrux burns a headache into her, seeking conversation. She curls up in her bed and dissolves the walls separating them. 

 

_ Delphini, my child, this is not worth it. Don’t put yourself in danger like this. I don’t want to see my daughter die. _

 

He’s changed tactics. Delphini’s gotten very good at seeing her Father’s manipulations for what they are. The horcrux is silent for too long to not be plotting something.

 

_ I know you don’t hate me this much. You take comfort in my very presence.  _

 

Delphini knows this is only because he’s her Father though. She won’t let him use this weakness against her. She won’t let him lock her up or hurt her any longer.

 

_ He won’t hurt you anymore though! You’re his horcrux! The old punishments aren’t even an option anymore! Our connection is supposed to bring us closer together, but now you’re attempting to run away forever and kill us both! _

 

Delphini believes her Father doesn’t deserve to be apart of her family if the only way he can stop himself from hurting her is to make her into himself. So, she’s going to leave and find new people to call family, nice people like Harry who’ve got ‘saving people things’.

 

* * *

 

It’s days before Delphini sees her Father again. During breakfast on a Tuesday, he suddenly enters the dinning hall and seats himself. She knows how this goes. It’s the same for every time she’s ever angered him. He’ll hurt her and/or yell at her, then leave for a few days to cool off. Everyone is expected to act as if his reappearance means the world has righted itself. Things must go back to normal.

 

“Good morning, Father.” Her smile is genuine as she imagines finally leaving this repetitive, manipulative hell.

 

“Good morning, Delphini.” His smile is genuine as he pats her head.

 

The day passes slowly. When night arrives, Delphini changes into her cutest, most childish pajamas and lays down in bed for the long wait until her Father’s usual bedtime. When she’s checked the time and it’s past midnight, she rises from bed and drags her feet on her way to her Father’s bedroom. 

 

She forces herself to shake and cry. She rubs her face hard to make it red just before she knocks on his door. A moment passes, then the door opens. Her Father is almost glaring at her from in his bed. His hand hangs off the side from where he must’ve beckoned the door open with magic.

 

“Daddy, can I sleep with you again? My head hurts.”

 

His whole face smooths out into a blank stare for a moment. Delphini hasn’t called him that since she was six. He opens his arms and she crosses the room quickly to climb into his embrace. As much as his presence soothes her insomnia, she knows her’s does the same to him. He’s asleep in under half an hour. 

 

His arms are wrapped around her, so she can’t stand without waking him, but she can reach one arm over to the night stand. Her tiny fingers wrap around the elder wand and she breathes deeply as she holds it for a moment. Her Father’s smell is all around her and she feels so naturally relaxed because of it. He isn’t as warm as other people, but his body heat is still comforting. It’s really nice sleeping cuddled up like this. She briefly burns the memory into her mind.

 

Then she jabs the elder wand at her Father and he flies across the room into the wall. She hears something in him crack as she rolls out of bed and swipes at him once, twice, and thrice. The magical impact breaks both his legs. He’s screaming at her but there’s only ringing in her ears as the wand begins to heat up in her palm. The feeling snaps into her soul and she knows it’s time to go. 

 

She summons the cloak and stone. Her Father is watching when the spell slides the ring onto her finger and the cloak onto her shoulders. His magic is pulling at her, but she jabs at him again and all of him is shoved back into his side of the room. His eyes burn with murder and tears, her’s with manic malice and determination. He’s watching when she brings the elder wand down hard and the wards rip apart like paper. He’s watching when she apparates away with a crack like thunder and a laugh in her mouth.

 

She lands on a muggle sidewalk, just outside of the area containing the Ministry. The elder wand comes down hard again without hesitation and she steps through the hole in space she’s created, submerged in the cloak. She slips into the Ministry, past the people sprinting to inspect the breach. No one sees her or detects her. No spells ever could reveal someone under this cloak.

 

Delphini ducks and dodges people and objects as she makes her way through to the Department of Mysteries. She knows the way. It isn’t long before she arrives at the Death Chamber. There’s only a single Unspeakable still inside and he’s already packing up to evacuate with the rest of the noncombatants in the Ministry. 

 

“Imperio.” He drops everything he was holding, bottles breaking and papers scattering. As much as Delphini hates her Father, it makes her sick to think of him searching for her forever with no closure. “Watch me.” The employee does as he’s told. “Stand over there and don’t leave that spot until I’m completely gone from this world. Tell the Dark Lord what happened once you’re released from the spell.” He moves to the spot she indicated and watches her. 

 

Whispers crawling on the wind pull Delphini forward. The chill of the air clings to her fingertips and leaves her shivering when she steps closer to the Veil. The arch stands at twice her height, ancient writing carved into every inch of the old stone. The sight comforts her and makes her feel welcome. Ghostly bodies shift and gasp from inside. Fingers reach out to her as far as they can, begging. 

 

“Please.” “It’s safe.” “Do it.” “No time.” “He’s coming.” “Trust yourself.” “Now.” “We’ll catch you.”

 

The cloak around her shoulders twinkles like stardust in the light of the Veil. The stone on her finger lightly repeats back the pleas coming from the spirits. The wand in her fist burns like fiendfyre in contrast to the cool atmosphere of the Death Chamber. She glances at the imperiused man behind her. He’s watching. She turns back to the Veil and walks… and walks… and walks… 

 

She recognizes the ringing in her head as the horcrux screaming and begging for her to stop. She must have lost focus on her occlumency while hurting her Father. She’s still too scatterbrained to pull up her walls again, but it doesn’t matter. She ignores him. 

 

The Veil passes over her as she passes through it. The spirits grab at her limbs and pull her further in. None of them have hardly any strength on their own, but together they overlap and combine. She is pulled through with a heavy force. No effort is needed on her part, but she goes through the motions of walking anyway. 

 

Light warbles around her, mostly bright, but ahead of her lies darkness. It sends shivers down her spine, but it’s the only place to go. As she is pulled closer, she spots a single hand reaching through the deep darkness toward her. She knows it, can see it. It’s Harry. She grabs onto his hand and he pulls her into and then out of the inky dark.

 

Delphini lands in a world of light, a train whistle ringing in her ears and the boy who lived supporting her weight. His eyes are emeralds and Delphini feels her first crush coming on. 

 

“So, let’s find you a train to ride, yeah?”

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in one night. Throw me through the veil too, please.
> 
> I feel like this could be left as a one shot, but I want to write more, but I don’t know where to go from here. Give me ideas?


End file.
